Reading aloud to children can get boring or tiresome for several reasons. You might be tired after a long day working, and you’ve probably read that same book over and over again for what feels like the millionth time. You might wish that your child would just go to bed so you could enjoy some quiet time, and you might be feeling guilty for not doing enough as a parent. You might just be in a rut when it comes to reading to your children. Or you might be a teacher looking for new ways to spark interest in your classroom reading time.
Whatever it is for you, these are all perfectly normal.
Here are some ways to re-ignite your passion about bonding with your child through books. Reading aloud is a true gift along our challenging, yet rewarding, pathway as parents and teachers.
25 Ways to Love Reading Aloud to Children:
1. Dress up in the main characters and then read book together.
2. Read books that you love (ex. topics, text, or illustrations that you love).
3. Create a daily ritual (ex. 15 minutes before bedtime).
4. Make an event of reading together (ex. snuggle up with books or act them out together).
5. Pick thematic books to relate to their lives.
6. Do book extension activities together.
7. Choose books that make the children laugh.
8. Get them moving by acting out the stories.
9. Read books that you can sing along to together.
10. Read poetry.
11. Read magazines or non-fiction books.
12. Look at the pictures and make up your own story.
13. Choose topics that your child can relate to (ex. going to dentist, traveling to places, or animals).
14. Spark their imagination.
15. Ask open-ended questions about the story and let them get creative with the answers.
16. Read in new locations (ex. in your back garden, on top of a mountain, next to a lake, on a beach, or in a homemade fort indoors).
17. Ask your librarian or look online for the best read-aloud books for your target age group.
18. Look for something new in the book every time you are reading together.
19. Look for magic and fun in reading aloud.
20. Be playful and creative.
21. Engage all the senses of your child.
22. Choose books that children can touch and interact with.
23. Read in a group with friends and family.
24. Do new and different things with your voice when you read (ex. sing the story like an opera singer, read with different accent, or whisper it).
25. Invent kids yoga poses with keywords in the story.
What ideas would you add to the list? Is there one idea that you could try with your child today?
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Check out the Read Aloud for 15 Minutes National Campaign.
